Hurley Pro At Lower Trestles: Final Day Highlight Video

Hurley Pro At Lower Trestles: Final Day Highlight Video

Taj Burrow Wins The Hurley Pro At Lower Trestles
After four days in a row of competition at one of the World Tour’s most high performance waves, Taj Burrow nailed a huge win at Lowers—the first of his long career at the iconic spot. And while the surf wasn’t up to anyone’s preferred size or quality, Taj was able to get past event standout Julian Wilson with a series of blazing carves, critical airs, and a bit of luck after giving away priority in the dying minutes of the final.

“It’s so sweet, I couldn’t be any happier!” said Taj following his $105,000 payday. “I feel like the good waves were coming my way and I was in the zone,” he added. In the zone he was. At one point in the final, Julian passed on what looked like a mushy wave, only to have Taj pick it up on the inside where it turned into one of the better waves of the day. Like I said, lady luck was on his side. The Hurley Pro comes at a crucial time of the year; it’s past the halfway mark, and there are only three events left; France, Portugal, and Pipeline. So with the new WCT rankings (below) we’ve got a World Title race on our hands!

LOWER TRESTLES, San Clemente, CA (Wednesday, September 18, 2013) – Taj Burrow (AUS), 35, has won the Hurley Pro at Trestles in a hard-fought Final over fellow Australian Julian Wilson (AUS), 24, in two-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at Lower Trestles.

Stop No. 7 of 10 on the ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the Hurley Pro at Trestles victory marks Burrow’s first ASP WCT win this season and 12th of his career.

Burrow’s win would come at the hands of an action packed match up, with the two Australians delivering a series of exciting exchanges in the high-scoring final. While Wilson would put together multiple combinations on the Lowers rights, Burrow’s high-scores were found via both a powerful backhand attack on a wedging left and a lengthy righthand runner.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Burrow said. “I really put so much effort in to this event and it just feels so incredible when it unfolds and goes your way. I felt like the good waves came my way and I was just in the zone. I was hoping to get things snowballing and I never felt like I put together my best surfing. I was just finding my feet more and more each heat. My board kept getting better and better and it felt great towards the end. That’s how you want to win an event, peak at the right time. I knew Julian (Wilson) would be tough. Even if I saw a wedged out close out I would have taken it if I had priority because I know what he can do. I surfed as smart as I possibly could. I thought I made a couple of errors, but they ended up playing out.”

Burrow’s win at the Hurley Pro at Trestles marks his third career Final at the venue and the progressive natural-footer was elated to take out a win after two career runner-up finishes at Lowers.

“It feels so good to tick this one off the list, I really wanted it more than any,” Burrow said. “I’ve had two second places and one really close one with Kelly (Slater) that I lost in the last minute. That one tore me up for a long time. I just couldn’t be happier that I got it.”

Burrow’s Hurley Pro at Trestles victory puts him at No. 4 on the ASP WCT.

Julian Wilson was electric throughout the entirety of the Hurley Pro at Trestles, launching massive aerials and fully-committed turns on both the lefts and rights of Lowers while posting some of the highest scores of competition. Wilson would get off to an early lead in the Hurley Pro at Trestles Final, but was unable to put a stop to Burrow’s efforts, finishing runner-up overall.

“It’s a great result and I would have rather gone one better,” Wilson said. “It was pretty tricky out there and I made too many mistakes and wasn’t in rhythm. Strategy was really important, but also, I want to go big and I wasn’t looking for the perfect wave. I thought I could do something big on something that wasn’t that perfect. Overall, it’s a good result and I had a good day. I want to keep moving up and win the next one.”

Wilson’s runner-up finish moves him to No. 7 on the ASP WCT.

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, was a standout at the Hurley Pro at Trestles, consistently posting high scores while advancing to the Semifinals. The powerful South African was unable to put a stop to a rampaging Taj Burrow in the Semifinals, however, finishing equal 3rd overall.

“TB (Taj Burrow) got that first one and that set him up for the rest of the heat,” Smith said. “I felt like I didn’t have to do much to get the big scores. All I needed was an opportunity, but I surfed my best and maybe over-surfed some waves. I did the best I could and I’m happy with my performance. It would have been nice to make the Final, but all around it was a good contest and I’m really frothing for France.”

Michel Bourez (PYF), 27, was lethal on the lefts and rights of Lower Trestles, unloading his signature power game en route to the Semifinals. The Tahitian would earn the day’s high heat total of 17.90 in the Quarterfinals, but was unable to find a rhythm in his Semifinals clash against Julian Wilson despite a valiant effort and would finish equal 3rd.

“It was really small and hard for me to pick the right waves and I was going too slow,” Bourez said. “With the tide changing, it was hard to figure out because it changed so much after my Quarterfinal. Julian (Wilson) played a really good game. He started strong and kept waiting for the best ones. That was the only thing to do I think.”

With 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 41, finishing equal 13th at the Hurley Pro at Trestles, two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS), 32, has taken over poll position on the 2013 ASP World Title Race via his 9th place finish. While Fanning’s Round 5 exit marks his poorest result of 2013, he’s looking to reset for a strong finish entering the final leg of the ASP WCT season.

“I came up a bit short in my heat yesterday and then I just made one mistake at the start of the heat and Travis (Logie) got that 8 and there wasn’t anything to fight back,” Fanning said. “Sometimes that happens. For me, to be bettering results, I had to get a 3rd and it was still a lot of work to do, but it would have been good to get more of a lead. This is my first throwaway for the year and it might be a good time to reset and refocus moving in to these last few events. Going in to these last three events, you want to win events and I’m just going to throw everything at it.”